1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a horseshoe, especially suitable for horses and equines in general.
2. Description of the Prior Art
As is well known, horseshoes are used to save the animal's hoof from the wear it would surely be subject to if unprotected, without hindering foot elaterium and without adding excessive weight to the horse's foot. At present the market offers iron, steel, aluminium and aluminium alloy shoes.
The above-mentioned available shoes are made by forging or die-casting.
The first method consists in constructing the shoe starting from rods or bars which are heated to a predetermined temperature before being bent and pressed.
The second method consists in heating the material up to softening point and forcing it under high pressure into dies.
Iron and steel are the most used metals as they exhibit those characteristics of toughness, cohesion, homogeneity and softness which are necessary for the product's destined use. They are, however, heavy.
Aluminium is little used because it is too ductile and not sufficiently resistant, leading to the need to reshoe frequently due to greater wear than would be the case with a steel or iron shoe or simply due to the natural growth of the animal's hoof.
When making aluminium shoes, generally aluminium bars are used, which are U-bent and then shaped according to a similar process to the one used for steel shoes: for this reason easily-workable alloys have to be used, which are greatly susceptible to wear, especially abrasion wear.
The above-described shoes, though functional, have some drawbacks. As has been noted previously, aluminium shoes, being light, are much less resistant, requiring frequent replacement with consequent increases in costs both of materials and labour.
Iron and steel shoes, though stronger, are heavier, causing greater fatigue in the horse, and are more rigid, limiting the capacity to absorb vibrations passed to the shoe with each contact with the ground.
What is more, it has been revealed that at present at least 50% of horses suffer from onycho-mycosis.
This high percentage is prevalently due to the fact that nowadays straw is no longer used in horse boxes, having been replaced by wood shavings, which are liable to contain the fungus giving rise to this illness.
Onycho-mycosis is a mychotic disease of the walls of equine hoofs, and is a chronic illness consisting in the formation of a cavity within the hoof. The hoof suffers in terms of vitality and becomes breakable, frail and subject to cracking. The foot deforms in the plantar ridge region, where an irregularly-shaped cavity is found, which tends to fill with horny powdery material, dried blood and various extraneous bodies. The wall is therefore thinner, rough, cracked and, if sounded with a hammer, gives a clear response. Onycho-mycosis spreads undetected in the region of the white line of the hoof, which is the zone of connection of the wall and sole tissues, and if not diagnosed in good time can originate considerable problems. Furthermore, onycho-mycosis is both an insidious and slow lesion, inasmuch as it is not easily spotted in its initial stages, since it is not functionally manifested, and gives rise to limping only at fast gaits.
This illness, which causes an alteration in the wall, puts at risk the solidity of the shoe, and can lead to serious consequences.
The treatment consists in a suitable and protective shoeing of the hoof, and a local application of antiseptics (vegetable tars, tincture of iodine, mercury bichloride, copper sulphate,etc.).
To treat onycho-mycosis, a hoof is immersed for a few minutes in a liquid composed of water and copper sulphate, with the operation being repeated for each foot and for several days in repeated cycles.
The treatment described above includes several drawbacks.
A first drawback is due to the fact that the horse is not always agreeable to being placed with its feet in a basin, and in any case the deepest-set fungi are not always eliminated. A further drawback derives from the fact that this treatment tends overall to harden the walls of the hoof, leading to further possibility of damage due to the resulting loss in ductility. For this reason, rinses after immersion are necessary to give the walls some ductility back, which are time-consuming and result in increased costs due to the specialist nature of the personnel involved in such a delicate task.
Other illnesses, such as frog-rot, are treated with drug mixtures based on copper sulphate, zinc sulphate, tincture of iodine, etc.
Often, in treating these illnesses, the shoe has to be removed, with obvious cost problems connected to the fact that the horse is thus effectively out of commission.